Auger type ice maker



March 8, 1966 A. J. Ross AUGER TYPE ICE MAKER Filed April 27. 1959 3 Sheets-Shea?l 1 March 8, 1966 A. J. Ross 3,238,739

AUGER TYPE ICE MAKER Filed April 27, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 8, 1966 Filed April 27, 1959 AUGER TYPE ICE MAKER lll |0| Ib Z5 21a. 2.2. 25b

85a. 8H' 85 86 83 83 b J. Ross 3,238,739

5 Sheets-Sheet 3 UnitedStates Patent O 3,238,739 AUGER TYPE ICE MAKER Anthony J. Ross, 116 Myrtle Ave., Elmhurst, Ill. Filed Apr. 27, 1959, Ser. No. 809,285 16 Claims. (Cl. 62-298) This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for freezing liquids and particularly to improvements in the invention disclosed and claimed in my copending application for Liquid Freezing Apparatus, filed December 12, 1956, Serial No. 627,840, since reiiled on lune 24, 1959, as continuation-in-part application Serial No. 822,516, now Patent No. 3,101,598. Application Serial No. 338,- 341, tiled January 17, 1964, now Patent No. 3,163,020, is a division of this application.

An important object of this invention is to provide a liquid freezing apparatus of the type employing a liquid storage chamber, an internal evaporator in the storage chamber and a screw for removing frozen liquid from the walls of the evaporator, characterized in that the apparatus can be readily assembled and disassembled to enable thorough cleaning of the several parts.

Another object of this invention is to provide a liquid freezing apparatus including an evaporator and an axially expansible and contractible helical scraper for removing frozen liquid from the walls of the evaporator, which apparatus has an improved arrangement for limiting lateral shifting movement of the scraper relative to the evaporator while permitting axial shifting of one end of the scraper during operation of the freezing apparatus,

Another object of this invention is to provide a liquid freezing apparatus having a freezing Wall and animproved evaporator construction for more uniformly cooling the freezing wall over the entire operative surface thereof.

A further object of this invention is to provide a liquid freezing apparatus in accordance with the foregoing object and in which the refrigerant accumulator is located within the evaporator casing and so arranged as to maintain the liquefied refrigerant level along the evaporator wall constant notwithstanding variations in the liquefied refrigerant level inthe accumulator chamber.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide an intermittently operated freezing apparatus having a freezing wall, a refrigerating mechanism including a compressor for chilling the freezing wall, and a motor driven scraper for removingV frozen liquid from the freezing wall, and characterized by the provision of Van improved arrangement for facilitating restarting of the freezing apparatus without causing abnormal loads on the scraper motor and compressor.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a liquid freezing apparatus having an improved arrangement for constructing the condenser and mounting the refrigerant compressor and the ice making head thereon to provide a self-contained unit which is simple and compact in construction and which can be economically fabricated.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an ice making apparatus having an improved arrangement for conveying the frozen liquid after it has been removed from the freezing wall in the liquid freezing head.

These, together with various ancillary objects and advantages of this invention will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the condenser coil construction with some of the cooling and 4reinforcing rods removed for clarity of illustration and with the compressor, ice making head and float valve shown in phantom to illustrate the manner of mounting the same on the condenser coil;

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FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged view on the plane 2-2 of FIG. 1, illustrating one corner of the condenser coil;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating the controls for the liquid freezing apparatus;

FIG 4 is a vertical sectional view illustrating one form of liquid freezing head;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the plane 5 5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view taken on the plane 6 6 of FIG. 5;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are fragmentary side elevational views illustrating the pin and slot construction for detachably interconnecting the parts;

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view through a modified form of liquid freezing head in which a refrigerant accumulator is located within the evaporator;

FIG. 10 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the plane 10-10 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 1l is a vertical sectional View through a further modified form of liquid freezing head; Y FIG. 12 is aV horizontal sectional view taken on the plane 12-12 of FIG. 1l; and

FIG. 13 is a longitudinal sectional view through a liquid freezing apparatus adapted to be mounted horizontally.

Reference is now made more specifically to FIG. 3 of the drawings wherein there is schematically illustrated a refrigeration system including a motor driven compressor 10 having a refrigerant inlet 11 and lan outlet 12. The compressed refrigerant is passed from the outlet 12 through a tube 13 to a condenser coil 14 and the liquefied refrigerant from the condenser coil is passed through a refrigerant expansion control, such as an expansion valve or the capillary tube 15 illustrated herein to an evaporator 16. The refrigerant expands in the evaporator and the gaseous refrigerant is passed through a return line 17 back to the inlet 11 of the compressor 10. The icev making head 21 of the present invention includes the evaporator 16, a liquid jacket or casing 22 for storing -a quantity of liquid in contact with the walls of the evaporator, a liquid flow control valve 23 for controlling the ow of liquid to the tank to maintain a preselected liquid level therein, and a rotary ice removing device 25, herein sometimes referred to as a scraper, driven by a motor 26 for removing the frozen liquid from the walls of the evaporator. The compressor motor is energized through a circuit including conductors 28 and 29 and switch apparatus is provided in the control circuit to control operation ofthe compressor 10, and hence control the freezing of liquid in the head 21. For reasons set forth herein-after, a t-h-reeway switch 31 is provided in the control circuit and is movable between a position engaging contact 31a to energize the compressor motor, and a position engaging a second contact 31b. The switch 31 may be'operated in any desired manner, either manually or automatically. In the specific form herein shown, the switch 31 is automatically operated to a position closing contact 31a whenever the ice level in the storage bin 32 drops below a preselected level. This may conveniently be achieved by the provision of a thermal bulb 33 lat the desired level in the storage bin, which thermal bulb is connected through ya capillary tube 34 to an eXpansi-ble operator 35. When the ice moves out of contact with the bulb 33, the liquid in the bulb expands and moves the switch 31 upwardly into engagement with contact 31a. When the ice again contacts the bulb 33, the liquid contracts and the switch 31 moves downwardly into engagement with contact 31h. If desired, a main off-on switch 37 may be connected Vin series with lthe automatic switch 31. The scraper drive motor 26 is also connected to the control circuit conduct-ors 28 and 29, through lines 38 and 39. A condenser cooling fan 41 may be provided if desired to control the condense-r temperature and hence the outlet pressure of the compressor. As shown herein, the fan 41 is connected to the control circuit conductors 28 and 29 through conductors 42 and 43 and a pressure responsive switch 44 which is controlled by a pressure responsive device 45 connected to the outlet side of the compressor 10. The outlet pressure of the compressor increases when the condenser temperature rises, to thereby automatically close the switch 44 and start the fan 41 which cools the condenser and reduces the outlet pressure on the compressor.

Under certain adverse conditions, as when restarting the apparatus, liquid will freeze on the evapora-tor at a rate faster than the motor driven scraper can remove the frozen liquid and cause stalling of the motor 26. Advantageously, a switch 46 may be provided in the main power circuit conductor 29 `and controlled automatically, as by a device 47, to open the circuit to the compressor 10 and scraper motor 26 in the event of a freeze-up in the head 21. As shown herein, the freeze-up in the head is detected by a thermal bulb 4S which is connected by a tube 49 to the expansible device 47. The bulb may be 'mounted in the liquid in the jacket or in heat conducting relation to the wall of the jacket to respond to the temperature therein and operate the switch 46 to open the circuit when the liquid in the jacket freezes up. Alternatively, a conventional thermal bulb or pressure switch (not shown) may Ibe located in the suction line 17 of the refrigerating apparatus to respond to the drop in temperalture and pressure therein which occurs when the head 21 freezes up. When the compres-sor is shut off, the head will warm up and the switch 46 will then automatically reclose and restart the apparatus. The drive motor 26 is advantageously either designed to withstand stalling current without burning out, or is protected by a conventional thermal overload switch, to prevent damage in the event of such a freeze-up.

The condenser 14 may be advantageously formed in the manner shown in FIGS. 1 `and 2 to support the several elements including the compressor, the freezing head and the liquid level control, and to form a partial enclosure therefor. With this arrangement, the condenser has a large radiating surface and it is unnecessary in most installations to provide a condenser cooling fan such as 41. The condenser is formed from a continuous tube bent to form a plurality of U-shaped sections 50 each including a -top portion 50a and side portions 50b and 50c. The U- shaped sections are disposed in -spaced parallel relation and are each interconnected at their lower ends withy one adjacent U-shaped section by an arcuate segment 50d which forms support legs for the condenser. The U- shaped sections are secured together by means of generally horizontally disposed wires or rods 51 which extend crosswise of the side and top portions of the inner and outer faces to brace the U-shaped sections and to increase the heat radiating surface. The condenser cage may also include a rear wall which is connected to the rearmost U- shaped section 50 by an arcuate segment 54, and which rear wall includes preferably vertically extending straight sections 55 which are interconnected by arcuate segments 55a in a serpentine configuration. Parallel reinforcing and heat radiating rods 56 are also secured as by brazing or soldering to the inner and outer faces the parallel sections `55 to extend crosswise thereof. The cage also includes a bottom or support panel which is connected by a tubular segment 58 to the end of the tube sections forming the rear panel, and which bottom panel includes straight sections 61 interconnected by arcuate segments 61a in a serpentine configuration, with the straight segment-s extending forwardly and rearwardly of the cage. The bottom also includes reinforcing `and heat radiating rods 63 which extend crosswise of the sections 61 and preferably have the ends thereof extending outwardly to rest on one of the rods 51 on the side portions of the U-shaped sections as best shown in FIG. 2, to support the bottom of the cage. A plurality of wire ties 64 may be provided to additionally support and connect the bottom and rear walls of the cage to the side and top walls. The motor driven compressor 10 is disposed within the cage and has legs 67 clamped to the bottom wall as by a clamp plate 68 and fasteners 69. The freezer head 21 may Ialso be provided with an enlarged base plate 71 which is clamped to the bottom, as by a plate 72 and fasteners 73. The liquid level control 23 may be mounted in any desired manner and as herein shown is mounted on the side of the cage.

The liquid freezing head 21 is designed to enable ready disassembly `of the evaporator 16, the scraper 25 and the casing or jacket 21 to facilitate thorough cleaning of the several parts. The evaporator 16 is .generally drum shaped and is shown in FIGS. 4-12, the evaporator 16 is made in the form of -a cylindrical casing 81 having a wall 82 at one end providing a closure for one end of the casing. An enlarged head 83 is provided on the other end of the evaporator casing and includes an outwardly extending flange portion 83a and a depending skirt portion 83h. The jacket 22 is in the form of a sleeve which surrounds the head 83 to deline -a liquid chamber 21a therebetween and is sealed thereto as by an O-ring 84 disposed in a peripheral groove in the head. The outer surface of the head 83 is stepped to provide a shoulder 90 which engages the lower end of the casing 22 to support the same. The sleeve is detachably secured to the head as by pins 85 carried by the head and which extend into slots 86 in the sleeve. Advantageously, the slots 86 can be angularly spaced apart from each other so a-s to enable the sleeve 22 and its discharge opening 101 to be positioned in different angular positions. The jacket 22 extends in spaced relation to the walls of the evaporator 81 to define a liquid chamber therebetween and the helical scraper 25 is disposed in this chamber around the evaporator 81. The scraper is in the form of a resilient axially expansible and contractible helix having an inwardly extending yarm 87 at one end which is attached to the drive shaft 88 of a gear head motor 26. The motor is conveniently detachably mounted on the upper end of the jacket or casing 22 to be supported thereby and, as Ishown herein, the motor is attached to a head 91 which is removably mounted on the upper end of the jacket. The head has an outwardly extending flange 92 to which the motor is secured, and which flange overlies the upper end of the jacket 22 to be supported thereon. The head is preferably formed with a concavity 91a in the upper face thereof to collect any oil which may drip from the motor. Oil overlow tubes 93 are provided on the head 91 to permit oil to drain from the concavity 91a, which tubes are arranged to be received in slots 94 formed in the jacket 22. The motor shaft 88 extends through a bore 95 in a central boss on the head 91, and a slinger 96 is attached to the shaft and overlies the bore to prevent the draining of oil along the shaft and through the bore. Liquid is supplied to the liquid chamber through a preferably flexible hose 98 which is connected to a nipple 99 on the water jacket 22. The control Valve 23 may be of any conventional construction which will maintain the liquid level in the chamber at a level below the discharge opening 101 in the liquid jacket 22. With this arrangement, the motor 26 and head 91 may be removed, to enable cleaning of the scraper 25, and the jacket 22 detached from the lower head 83 to facilitate cleaning of the interior walls of the jacket and the -outer walls of the evaporator. While the axial pressure exerted by the screw 25 on the evaporator casing 81 will be in a direction to draw the heads 83 and 91 toward each other, the slots 86 and 94 in the jacket 22 may advantageously be of the bayonet type shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 to aid in preventing accidental detachment of the heads from the water jacket. The connection between the upper head 91 and the jacket 22 is preferably suicently loose to permit limited floating movement of the head and motor, as required to enable the screw 25 to align itself with the evaporator casing.

The refrigerant inlet and return lines and 17 respectively extend through the lower head 83 into the chamber with-in the evaporator casing 81, so as to not interfere with the removal of the jacket 22 or screw 25 from the evaporator. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the capillary tube 15 forming the inlet line extends in through a lateral openin-g 104 in the skirt portion 83h of the lower head, and then upwardly through a plug 105, into the lower end of the chamber 81a in the evaporator casing 81. The return conduit 17 also extends through the lateral -opening 104 in the skirt portion of the head 83 upwardly through the plug 105 to a point adjacent the upper end of the chamber 81a. With this arrangement, -the gaseous refrigerant will pass out through the return line 17, but no liquified refrigerant will pass through the return line until the level of the liquefied refrigerant reaches the upper end of the return line 17.

As the liquefied refrigerant vaporizes, it absorbs heat and cools the walls of the casing 81 to freeze liquid thereon. However, the cooling effect is more pronounced in the portions of the evaporator casing which are contacted by liquefied refrigerant. In order to obtain substantially uniform freezing along the wall of the evaporator casing `81, it is necessary to maintain the chamber 81a in the casing 81 filled with liquefied refrigerant. Accordingly, an accumulator should be provided to assure an adequate supply of refrigerant in the system to maintain the chamber 31a filled with liquefied refrigerant.

The plug 105 is Isealed to the walls of the evaporator casing 81 as by soldering or brazing and as shown herein is disposed in a counterbore 106 in the casing. The plug is disposed at a level above the head 83, and above the lower end 2511 of thehelical screw 25, to prevent freezing of liquid on the walls of the evaporator casing below the lower end lof the screw which would interfere with the free axial expansion and contraction of the same. The portion of the casing 81 below the plug, and the hollow head 83 are filled with a suitable insulating material 108.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 4-8, the arm 87 on the upper end of the scraper is designed to aid in feeding the frozen liquid to the discharge opening 101 in the jacket 22. The arm is preferably threaded on the lower end of the shaft 88 in abutting relation to a shoulder 88a thereon so that the arm is firmly attached to the shaft to support the scraper Vconcentrically of the evaporator casing 81. The arm has a substantial axial depth and closely under lies the -upper head 91 and, as best shown in FIG. 5, the leading edge 87a of the arm is inclined to a radial plane through the shaft, at least along the upper portion of the arm, to urge the frozen liquid radially outwardly toward the discharge opening 101 .as the arm rotates. Advantageously, the leading edge of the arm is also inclined downwardly and forwardly in the direction of rotation of the arm, to also elevate the frozen liquid engaged by the arm, While forcing the same outwardly toward the discharge opening. The screw extends into a notch in the underside of the arm and is secured thereto, as by welding preferably, the upper end of the helical screw 25 is spaced below the upper head 91 a distance less than the lead of the helix to compress the frozen liquid between the helix and the head before discharging the frozen liquid through the opening 101.

The liquid `freezin-g head 21 illustrated in FIGS. 9 and l0 is generally the same as that shown in FIGURES 4-8, and like numerals are utilized to designate corresponding parts. The freezing head of FIG. 9 differs primarily in the provision of a refrigerant accumulator within the evaporator casing 81 so as to eliminate the necessity of providing a separate accumulator in the refrigeration system, and to also eliminate the refrigeration losses attendant to such an external accumulator. More particularly, a sleeve 111 is mounted on the plug 105 to extend upwardly in `the evaporator casing, ein spaced relation .thereto to define a cooling chamber 112 between the sleeve and the evaporator 81, and an accumulator charnber 114 within the sleeve 111. The refrigerant inlet line 15 extends upwardly through the plug 105 and dischar-ges into the chamber 112 adjacent its lower end. The refrigerant return line 17 extends upwardly through the plug and communicates with the laccumulator chamber 114 adjacent its upper end. With this arrangement, the liquefied refrigerant enters through the line 15 and into the chamber 112, the excess liquefied refrigerant passing over .the top of the sleeve 111 into the central accumulator chamber. As before, the gaseous refrigerant passes outwardly through the return line 17. Thus, liquefied refrigerant is maintained in contact with the entire inner surface of the evaporator casing 81, up to the upper end of the inner sleeve 111, notwithstanding variations lin the level of the liquid refrigerant within the central laccumulator 114.

FIGS. 9 and 10 also illustrate a slightly modified screw construction and arrangement for guiding the frozen liquid to the discharge opening. A-s in the preceding embodiment, the arm 102 is preferably threadedly attached to the shaft -88 in abutting engagement with the shoulder 88a thereon. The arm is spaced below the head 91 and a blade 103 is positioned above the arm 102 to guide the ic/e toward the discharge opening 101. The blade may conveniently be attached to the underside of the head, as by a flange 103:1 on the blade. Advantageously, the blade may be formed of a resilient material such as rubber and extended downwardly to a level below the upper edge of the arm. As the arm rotates past the blade, it deflects the blade from its normal position. As the blade returns to its normal position, it flicks the frozen liquid through Ithe discharge opening. In addition, the resilient blade minimizes the danger of Ainjury if a finger is inserted through the discharge opening 101. The blade extends from a point adjacent the shaft 88 to the periphery of the jacket 22. The blade may be positioned to intersect the discharge opening adjacent the trailing edge of the opening, to guide loose flakes to the opening, or it may be positioned as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 10 to partially constrict the opening. This .tends to compress -fthe flake ice and produce a more dense frozen product.

At times, the ice which is removed from the evaporator casing 81 does not rapidly move upwardly in the jacket 22 and, instead, merely rotates with :the screw 25. In order to overcome this difficulty, a shoulder 100 is formed on the inner periphery of the jacket 22 and extends closely adjacent the periphery of the screw. The shoulder extends crosswise of the convolutions of the screw 25 and is preferably located adjacent the trailing edge of the discharge opening. Any ice which tends to rotate with the screw will engage the shoulder and, when the rotation of the ice is retarded, it will move upwardly with the screw to the discharge opening.

In certain applications such as in the larger size heads, or when the screw or the evaporator is formed of a material which will abrade rapidly when the two are lin rubbing contact, it is desirable to radially support the free end of the screw 25 to prevent the same from rubbing against .the evaporator. As shown in FIIG. 9, an -annular bearing is attached to the lower end of the screw and slidably and rotatably surrounds the evaporator casing to radially support the screw, while permitting free axial expansion and contraction.

The liquid freezing head 21 illustra-ted in FIGS. ll and 12 is also generally similar to that shown in FIGS.

4-8, and the same numerals are utilized to designate the j Acorresponding parts. 'In the embodiment of4 FIGS. l1 and l2, a sleeve 121 is attached to the plug 105 and extends upwardly in the casing 81, to separate the latter into an outer freezing chamber 122 and an inner accumulator chamber 123, which freezing and accumulator chambers are communicated with each other adjacent their upper ends through an yopening 124 in the upper end of the sleeve. An `improved arrangement lis provided for passing 1the liquefied refrigerant through the freezing chamber 122, vto cause more uniform cooling of the walls of the evaporator 81. For .this purpose a helical coil 126 is disposed in the freezing chamber 122 and preferably is snugly received between the casing 81 and the sleeve 121. The refrigerant inlet line extends upwardly through the plug 105 and has a portion 15b which extends through the accumulator chamber and laterally through the sleeve 121. The end of the tube 15b has a fiared portion 15e which is connected to the upper end of the helical tube 126 to feed the liquefied refrigerant thereto. The liquefied refrigerant fiows downwardly in the helical tube and out through the lower end 126a thereof which communicates with the freezing chamber 122. The liquefied refrigerant then fiows upwardly in the freezing chamber between the convolutions of the tube to the upper end of the freezing cha-mber from whence it passes through the opening 124 into the central accumulator chamber 123. As will be noted, the tube 126 functions as a bafiie to cause the upw-ardly flowing liquefied refrigerant to pass in a helical path around the walls of the casing 81. The refrigerant return line 17, as in the preceding embodiments, communicates with the accumulator chamber 123 above its lower end. As is apparent, Ithe tube 126 and the outer chamber 122 will remain filled with liquefied refrigerant, notwithstanding variations in the liquid level within the central accumulator chamber 123.

In order to compact and drain the frozen liquid which is delivered from the freezing heads, through the discharge openings 161 therein, an upwardly inclined discharge chute 131 may be provided. The chute 131 (see FIG. 1l) is attached to the casing around the discharge opening and is inclined upwardly therefrom so that the frozen liquid must be forced by the screw 25 upwardly through the opening, to slightly compact the frozen liquid passing through :the chute. IIn addition, any excess liquid in the frozen liquid or ice will drain back through the chute and into the chamber 21a in the jacket 21.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 11 and l2, a modified arrangement is illustrated for radially guiding the screw to limit radial shifting of the screw relative to the central evaporator casing. The casing 109 is of a suitable bearing material which will not abrade or cause abrading of the screw when the screw rubs thereagainst. For example, the casing may be formed of nylon, and the casing has an undulated inner periphery defining ribs 109a which extend closely adjacent the periphery of the screw to prevent the screw from shifting into rubbing contact with the evaporator. The ribs also inhibit rotation of ice with the screw and thereby aid in advancing the ice to the discharge opening. In addition, the spaces between the ribs provide channels which permit liquid from the inlet 99 to fiow along the screw and into the spaces between adjacent convolutions of the coil. The ends of the casing 109 are counterbored as indicated at 109b and 109e to provide annular surfaces which surround the heads 83 and 91 in sealed relation thereto.

A further modified form of liquid freezing head 21 is illustrated in FIG. 13, which head is particularly adapted for mounting in a horizontal position. The evaporator 16 is in the form of a tubular casing 151 having a wall 152 at one end thereof and a plug 153 connected to the other end of the casing in sealed relation therewith. A tube 154 is attached to one end of the casing and extends through an enlarged head 155. The tube is non-slidably and non-rotatably secured to the head by means of a pin 156 and an O-ring 157 is provided for sealing the interface between the tube and the head. A cylindrical jacket 161 surrounds the head and is sealed thereto by an O-ring 162, the head being non-rotatably secured to the jacket as by screws 163. As in the preceding embodiments, a

,8 helical scraper coil 160 is disposed in the chamber 161a within the jacket 161 and surrounds the evaporator casing 151. The helical scraper has an inwardly extending arm 163 at one end, which arm is secured to a tubular drive shaft 164. The shaft is rotatably supported in a head 165 and seals 166 are provided in the head for preventing leakage of liquid along the shaft. The head 165 is supported at the other end of the jacket 21 in sealed relation thereto as by O-ring 167, and lscrews 168 are provided for detachably securing the head in position on the jacket, and to prevent rotary and axial shifting movement of the head. The jacket may be supported in any desired manner, as by pedestals 171, and the liquid to be frozen is introduced into the chamber 161a through an opening 172 adjacent the lower end of the chamber, the frozen liquid passing outwardly from the chamber through a delivery opening 173 adjacent the upper side of the chamber.

When mounting the freezer head in a horizontal position, it is advantageous to support both ends of the evaporator casing 151. For this purpose a stub shaft 175 is secured to the end wall 152 of the evaporator casing and extends into the hollow drive shaft 164 to be radially supported thereby. A thrust washer 176 is interposed between the end wall 152, and the inwardly extending arm 163 on the screw 25 to take up the axial thrust on the shaft 164 during rotation of the scraper.

The helical scraper 160 is a resilient axially expansible and contractible coil which elongates and contracts as the frozen liquid breaks away from the wall of the evaporator. In order to maintain proper concentricity between the coil and the evaporator, provision is made for radially supporting the end of the scraper remote from the shaft 164, while permitting axial movement of that end of the scraper. This is achieved by the provision of a collar 181 which is rotatably supported on the tube 154 and is slidable axially therealong, and which collar is connected through a leaf spring 182 to the end of the screw 160, as by a fastener 183. This radially supports the free end of the screw, while permitting axial expansion and contraction of the screw. While the arrangement for radially supporting both ends of the evaporator casing, and also both ends of the screw -is herein shown applied to a horizontally mounted liquid freezing head, it is to be understood that this construction can also be advantageously employed in the larger size vertically disposed freezing head, in order to prevent excessive lateral shifting of the helical screw relative to the central evaporator casing.

The refrigerant inlet and return conduits 15 and 17 extend through the tube 1.54 and through the plug 153 in sealed relation thereto. The evaporator may advantageously be provided with a built-in accumulator and for this purpose a sleeve .185 is disposed in the casing to extend between the plug 153 and the end wall 176 to separate the casing into an outer chamber 151a and an inner accumulator chamber 151b. The chambers 151a and 151b are communicated with each other adjacent one end, as through an opening 186 and a helical tube 187 is disposed in the outer chamber 151a. The inlet tube 15 extends through the chamber 151b and into communication with one end of the helical tube 187. The liquified refrigerant fiows from the tube 15 and through the helical tube 187. The other end 187:1 of the tube discharges into the outer chamber 151a and the liquified refrigerant then fiows back through the space between the convolutions of the tube 187 to the opening 186 and into the accumulator chamber 151b. The refrigerant return line 17 has the end 17a thereof communicating with the accumulator chamber adjacent the upper side to prevent drawing liquefied refrigerant back to the compressor. As is apparent, the shaft 164 may be driven in any desired manner and as herein shown there is provided a pulley 191 on the outer end of the shaft for connection to a suitable drive motor.

While the head 21 illustrated in FIG. 13 is designed to form a frozen product such as flake ice and to discharge the same through the opening to a point of use or storage, the head is also adapted for cooling liquid in a tank. In that event the jacket 161 could be omitted and the tube 154 and shaft 164 mounted in opposed walls of the tank to support the evaporator and screw.

When the ice making apparatus is shut olf after a period of operation, some difficulty is encountered when the apparatus is restarted. The torque required to drive the scraper and remove ice from the evaporator rapidly builds up after restarting the ice making apparatus, to many times the torque required during normal operation, and then gradually decreases to a normal -operating torque. Consequently, in order to prevent stalling and damage to the drive motor, the drive motor 26 must have a torque output many times that which is normally required. It has been found that the provision of a heater for heating therefrigerant in the evaporator effectively overcomes these diiiculties. As shown in FiGS. 3, 4, 9 and l1, a tubular sheath 195 is mounted on the plug 105 to extend into the chamber inside the evaporator casing S1, and a heater 196 is disposed in the sheath. The heater may advantageously be connected through conductors 197 to the Contact 31b of the three-way switch 31, to be energized whenever the ice making apparatus is turned off. Similarly, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, a tubular sheath 198 may be mounted on the plug 153 to extend into the accumulator 'chamber 151b and an immersion heater 199 disposed in the sheath for heating the refrigerant in the accumulator chamber.

It is considered that the overloading of the compressor and scraper drive motor, upon restarting of the liquid freezing apparatus shortly after termination of a period of operation, occurs in the following manner. Since the condenser is very hot as compared to the evaporator, at the time the refrigeration apparatus is shut off, the refrigerant in the condenser will be forced under the relatively higher pressure in the condenser through the capillary tube and into therelatively cool evaporator. Within a short time after stopping the apparatus, most of the refrigerant in the system will have condensed in the evaporator; in the suction line 17, and in the inlet of the compressor. When the liquid freezing apparatus is thereafter restarted, the compressor will tend to draw liquefied refrigerant and thereby cause an abnormal load on the compressor. Further, when the -compressor does begin operation,` the excess liquefied refrigerant in the evaporator will vaporize rapidly and temporarily cause the evaporator temperature to drop to a very low value as compared to normal operating temperature. This causes the ice to build up on the evaporator at a higher than normal rate for a period after restarting the apparatus so that the torque required to operate the scraper also builds up a very high value, often of the order of ten times normal operating torque. After'a short further period of operating the torque required to operate the screw again drops back to a relatively low value. By providing the aforementioned heater for heating the evaporator, which is turned on immediately upon stopping the liquid freezing apparatus, the evaporator temperature is rapidly raised to a temperature above the remainder of the system to prevent excessive condensing of refrigerant therein. In addition, the heater helps equalize the pressures in the system and facilitates restarting of the compressor. In practi-ce, the heater has been found to effectively eliminate the temporarily high torque load on the scraper motor and thus permits the use of a relatively small motor as compared to those otherwise required, without danger of stalling and damage to the scraper motor.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for freezing liquids, an evaporator casing, refrigerant inlet and outlet conduits communicatinlg with said casing for passing refrigerant therethrough' to chill the walls'of said evaporator casing, means for removing frozen liquid from the casing comprising a resilient axially expansible and contractible helical coil disposed around said casing, a shaft attached to one end of said coil, means for rotatably supporting said shaft and for limiting axial movement of said one end of said coil, means for rotating said shaft to turn said coil relative to said casing, the convolutions of said coil forming the sole connection ibetween said one end of said coil and the other end thereof whereby to permit free axial expansion and contraction of said coil during operation of the freezing apparatus, and bearing means operatively engaging the other end of said coil for rotatably supporting the same for free axial movement relative to said evaporator casing to maintain the convolutions of the coil out of frictional contact with the evaporator casing.

2. In an apparatus for freezing liquids, an evaporator casing, refrigerant inlet and outlet conduits c-ommunicating with said casing for passing .refrigerant therethrough Ito chill the Walls of said evaporator casing, means for removing frozen liquid from the casing comprising a resilient axially expansible and contractible helical coil disposed around said casing, a shaft connected to one end of said coil, means f-or rotatably supporting and for limiting axial movement of said one end of said coil, means for rotating said shaft to turn said coil relative to said casing, the convolutions of said coil forming the sole connection between said one end of said coil and the other end thereof whereby to permit axial expansion and contraction of said coil during operation of the freezing apparatus, .and an annular bearing means attached to said other end of said coil rotatably supporting said other end of said coil on said casing.

3. An apparatus for freezing liquids comprising, a drum shaped evaporator casing having a wall at one end thereof, a liquid jacket surrounding said casing t-o form a liquid chamber therearound, said jacket having a discharge opening adjacent one end, .a head on said jacket spaced from said end wall of said casing, a drive shaft extending through said head, an arm attached to said drive shaft and spaced .below .said head, a rotary ice re-` moving device attached to the free end of said arm and surrounding said casing to remove frozen liquid therefrom as the shaft is rotated, and a baille plate spanning the space between said head and said arm and extending from a point adjacent said opening to a point adjacent said shaft for guiding frozen liquid through said opening as the arm and ice removing device rotate.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein the baffle plate is formed of resilient material and projects into the path of movement of the arm to be deiiected by the arm as it rotates.

5. An apparatus for freezing liquids comprising, a drum shaped evaporator casing, a water jacket surrounding said casing and spaced from the side walls thereof to form a liquid chamber, refrigerant inlet and return oonduits extending into said casing, an axially expansible andI 6. An .apparatus for free-zing liquids comprising, a

drum shaped evaporator casing, a liquid jacket surrounding said casing to form a liquid chamber therearound, said jacket having a discharge -opening adjacent one end, a head .at said one end of said casing adjacent one edge of said discharge opening, a drive shaft extending through said head, an arm attached to said drive shaft and extend` ing bet-Ween said cas-ing and said head to have the free end thereof move yacross said opening as .the shaft is rotated, and a rotary ice removing device attached to the free end of said arm and surrounding said evaporator casing to remove frozen liquid therefrom and advance the frozen liquid to said one end of the jacket, said arm having at least a portion of the leading edge thereof inclined upwardly and rearwardly with respect to a radial plane through the shaft in a direction to force the frozen liquid engaged thereby outwardly through the discharge opening in the jacket. Y i

7. An apparatus for producing flake ice comprising, a drum shaped inner casing having means for refrigerating the walls thereof to freeze a layer of liquid thereon, a drum shaped outer casing surrounding said inner casing in spaced relation 'thereto and dening an annu-lar liquid chamber therebetween, an ice removing device including an ice engaging element extending into said liquid chamber alongside said inner casing for removing ice from the inner casing, drive means for rotating said ice removing device relative to the inner casing, said outer casing -having a di-scharge opening adjacent one end, said outer casing having at least three rib elements extending inwardly of the liquid chamber into closely spaced adjacency to the path of travel of the outer periphery of said ice engaging element to radially center the same in the liquid jacket, said ice engaging element and said rib elements extending crosswise of each other in spiral fashion.

8. An ice making machine comprising, an inner drum shaped evaporator casing closed at one end, an outer casin extending around the inner casing in spaced relation thereto, and an end wall extending between the inner and outer casing adjacent the other end of said inner casing to form a liquid chamber therebetween, an ice removing device extending around said inner casing, said ice removing device defining a generally annular cage open at one end thereof to enable axial insertion and removal of the ice removing device from around the inner casing and having means at the other end overlying said closed end of the inner casing and adapted for connection to a drive means, bearing means including an annular member operatively engaging one of said casings and the open end of said annular cage to slidably and rotatably support the open end of the ice removing device for axial insertion and withdrawal from the liquid chamber, a drive means connected to said other end of said ice removing device for forceably rotating the same relative to said inner casing, means for supplying liquid to the chamber between said inner and outer casings, means for refrigerating the walls of said inner casing to freeze a layer of liquid thereon, said last mentioned means including means for confining the refrigeration of the walls of said inner casing to that portion of the walls located axially inwardly of the open end of said cage to prevent the formation of an ice layer on that portion of the walls of said inner casing contiguous to said annular member.

9. An ice making machine comprising, an inner drum shaped evaporator casing closed at one end, an outer casing extending around the inner casing in spaced relation thereto, and an end wall extending between the inner and outer casings adjacent the other end of said casing to form a liquid chamber therebetween, an ice removing device extending around said inner casing, said ice removing device defining a generally annular cage open at one end thereof to enable axial insertion and removal of the ice removing device from around the inner casing and having means at the other end overlying said closed end of the inner casing and adapted for connection to a drive means, an annular bearing means on said open end of said ice removing device dimensioned to slidably and rotatably engage said inner casing to rotatably support said open end of the ice removing device thereon, a drive means connected to said other end of said ice removing device for forceably rotating the same relative to said inner casing, means for supplying liquid to the chamber between said inner and outer casings, means for refrigerating the walls of said inner casing to freeze a layer of liquid thereon, said last mentioned means including means for confining the refrigeration of the walls of the inner casing to that portion of the walls located axially inwardly of said annular bearing means to prevent the formation of an ice layer on that portion of the evaporator casing contiguous to said annular bearing means.

1l). An ice producing apparatus comprising, an outer vessel, a drum shaped evaporator casing extending into the vessel and closed at the inner end thereof, means for refrigerating the walls of the evaporator casing to freeze a layer of liquid thereon, a helical ice removing device extending into the chamber between said evaporator casing and said vessel and having a drive member at one end thereof overlying said closed inner end of said evaporator casing, drive means mounted on said vessel and including a shaft extending concentrically of said evaporator casing, thrust bearing means interposed between said drive member and said closed end of said evaporator casing for supporting one end of said helical ice removing device on said inner end of said evaporator casing, and means operatively connecting said drive means to said `drive member for rotating the latter to separate frozen liquid from the evaporator casing and advance the frozen liquid toward said inner end thereof.

11. The combination of claim 10 wherein said evaporator casing has an axially extending pin on said closed end thereof and said drive member has an opening therein rotatably receiving said pin to radially support the ice removing device.

12. An ice-making apparatus comprising an upright drum shaped vessel for containing water to be made into ice, refrigerating means for forming ice within said vessel, an ice-remover within said Vessel for breaking loose the ice within said vessel and raising said ice to the top of the vessel, 1an ice discharge port in said vessel adjacent the top thereof, an ice-remover arm extending radially at the top of said ice-remover, means for rotating said arm, said arm including means for sweeping past said discharge port in response to said rotation of the arm to eject said raised ice out through said port, the leading surface of said ice-remover arm tapering radially outwardly to enhance the force with which ice is ejected.

13. In an ice-making apparatus comprising an upright first drum shaped vessel for containing Water to be made into ice, a refrigerated second drum shaped vessel extending concentrically upwardly within the first vessel from the bottom thereof and surrounded by an ice-remover, means extending downwardly to the ice-remover for turning it to remove and raise ice formed around the second vessel, and means adjacent the turning means for maintaining the upper end of the ice-remover substantially concentric with said vessels to avoid frictional contact of the ice remover with either vessel, the improvement which comprises annular bearing means between the lower portion of the ice-remover and the surface of one of said vessels to maintain the lower portion of the ice-remover simultaneously concentric with the vessels.

14. An ice making apparatus comprising, a drum shaped inner casing having means for refrigerating the walls thereof suflcient to freeze a layer of liquid thereon, a duim shaped outer casing surrounding said inner casing in spaced relation thereto and defining an lannular liquid chamber therebetween, an ice removing device including an ice engaging element of spiral form extending into said liquid chamber alongside said inner casing for removing ice from the inner casing, drive means for rotating said ice removing device relative to said inner casing, said outer casing having a discharge opening adjacent one end, said outer casing having at least three ribs extending inwardly of the liquid chamber and sufficiently close to the outer periphery of the ice engaging elementto avoid radial shifting of the ice engaging element into rubbing contact with the inner casing, said ribs being spaced apart circumferentially of said outer casing and extending generally lengthwise of the casing and crossi wise of the spiral ice engaging element.`

15. An ice making apparatus comprising, a tubular evaporator casing having a top wall at the upper end thereof, a liquid vessel surrounding said casing and extending to level above said top wall to form a liquid chamber around the casing, said vessel including an annular wall spaced radially from the casing and a head on the upper end of said annular wall spaced above said top Wall on the casing, said annular wall having an ice ejection opening therein at the end adjacent said head, ice remover drive means including a shaft extending downwardly through said head, an arm attached to said drive shaft between said top Wall and said head and exending laterally of said shaft at a level that intersects said discharge opening, a rotary ice removing device attached to the free end of said arm and surrounding said casing to remove frozen liquid therefrom as the shaft is rotated, and a vane xed with said vessel in the upper portion thereof and extending adjacent the side of the ejection opening last encountered by said arm in a rotation to aid in the ejection of ice masses through said opening.

16. An ice making apparatus comprising, a drum shaped evaporator casing, a water jacket means surrounding said casing and spaced from the side Walls of the evaporator casing to form a chamber for containing water to be made into ice, means including refrigerant inlet and return conduits extending into said evaporator casing for refrigerating the side Walls thereof sufficient of freeze a layer of ice on the outer surface of the side walls of said evaporator casing, Ia rotary ice removing device extending around said evaporator casing, drive means connected to one end of said rotary ice removing device for turning it relative to said evaporator casing to remove ice therefrom, the improvement which comprises means on the water jacket means for engaging the outer periphery of the ice removing device to maintain the other end of the ice removing device out of rubbing contact with the evaporator casing.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 490,475 1/1893 Holden 62-354 396,551 s/1903 Jurgens 62-'68 1,020,759 3/1912 Holden 62-354 1,796,828 3/ 1931 Clingman 62-267 1,793,725 3/1931 Christensen 62-342 1,930,569 10/1933 Taylor 62-354 1,995,124 3/1935 Kolsier 62-267 2,124,263 7/1933 Williams 62-276 2,150,792 3/1939 winni 62-354 2,299,414 10/1942 spiegl 62-354 2,421,819 6/1947 Vandenberg 62-139 2,440,397 4/1948 Erickson 62-354 2,449,132 4/1948 Lnoia 62-137 2,597,515 5/1952 Nitsch 62-354 2,724,949 11/1955 Karris 62-137 2,775,633 12/1956 Kleist 62-33 2,959,033 11/1960 Raver 62-354 2,962,878 12/1960 Keller 62-354 2,979,915 4/1961 Gardner 62-33 3,034,311 5/1962 Nelson 62-320 3,034,317 5/1962 sehneider eral 62-293 FOREIGN PATENTS 220,263 2/1958 Australia.

ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner.

R. D. SMITH, G. A. EPPNER, L. G. WISE, W. E.

WAYNER, Assistant Examiners. 

12. AN ICE-MAKING APPARATUS COMPRISING AN UPRIGHT DRUM SHAPED VESSEL FOR CONTAINING WATER TO BE MADE INTO CIE, REFRIGERATING MEANS FOR FORMING ICE WITHIN SAID VESSEL, AN ICE-REMOVER WITHIN SAID VESSEL FOR BREAKING LOOSE THE ICE WITHIN SAID VESSEL AND RAISING SAID ICE TO THE TOP OF THE VESSEL, AN ICE DISCHARGE PORT IN SAID VESSEL ADJACENT THE TOP THEREOF, AN ICE-REMVOER ARM EXTENDING RADIALLY AT THE TOP OF SAID ICE-REMOVER, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID ARM, SAID ARM INCLUDING MEANS FOR SWEEPING PAST SAID DISCHARGE PORT IN RESPONSE TO AID ROTATION OF THE 